NCERT Textbook - The Selfish Giant | English Class 8 PDF Download

 Page 1


I
• The Giant’s garden was beautiful, and children loved to play in it.
• The Giant, who was selfish, built a high wall round his lovely garden.
• Children did not enter the garden thereafter. Nor did Spring and
Summer till the Giant experienced a change of heart.
EVERY afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children
used to go and play in the Giant’s garden.
It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and
there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there
were twelve peach-trees that in the springtime broke out into delicate
blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit. The
birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to
stop their games in order to listen to them. “How happy we are
here!” they cried to each other.
One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend,
the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. When
he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden.
“What are you doing here?” he cried in a very gruff voice, and
the children ran away.
Cornish ogre: a giant of Cornwall (in the U.K.)  ogre: (in legends and fairy stories) a cruel
giant who eats people; (in common usage) a very frightening person  gruff: rough; surly
The Selfish Giant
3
Reprint 2024-25
Page 2


I
• The Giant’s garden was beautiful, and children loved to play in it.
• The Giant, who was selfish, built a high wall round his lovely garden.
• Children did not enter the garden thereafter. Nor did Spring and
Summer till the Giant experienced a change of heart.
EVERY afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children
used to go and play in the Giant’s garden.
It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and
there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there
were twelve peach-trees that in the springtime broke out into delicate
blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit. The
birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to
stop their games in order to listen to them. “How happy we are
here!” they cried to each other.
One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend,
the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. When
he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden.
“What are you doing here?” he cried in a very gruff voice, and
the children ran away.
Cornish ogre: a giant of Cornwall (in the U.K.)  ogre: (in legends and fairy stories) a cruel
giant who eats people; (in common usage) a very frightening person  gruff: rough; surly
The Selfish Giant
3
Reprint 2024-25
It so happened... 18 18 18 18 18
“My own garden is my own garden,” said the Giant; “anyone can
understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself.”
So he built a high wall all round it, and put up a notice-board:
TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED
He was a very selfish Giant.
The poor children had now nowhere to play. They tried to play
on the road, but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones,
and they did not like it. They used to wander round the high walls
when their lessons were over, and talk about the beautiful garden
inside. “How happy we were there!” they said to each other.
Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little
blossoms and little birds. Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant it
was still winter. The birds did not care to sing in it as there were no
trespassers: those who enter somebody’s land/property without his/her permission
prosecuted: tried in a court of law (here, punished)
Reprint 2024-25
Page 3


I
• The Giant’s garden was beautiful, and children loved to play in it.
• The Giant, who was selfish, built a high wall round his lovely garden.
• Children did not enter the garden thereafter. Nor did Spring and
Summer till the Giant experienced a change of heart.
EVERY afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children
used to go and play in the Giant’s garden.
It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and
there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there
were twelve peach-trees that in the springtime broke out into delicate
blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit. The
birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to
stop their games in order to listen to them. “How happy we are
here!” they cried to each other.
One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend,
the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. When
he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden.
“What are you doing here?” he cried in a very gruff voice, and
the children ran away.
Cornish ogre: a giant of Cornwall (in the U.K.)  ogre: (in legends and fairy stories) a cruel
giant who eats people; (in common usage) a very frightening person  gruff: rough; surly
The Selfish Giant
3
Reprint 2024-25
It so happened... 18 18 18 18 18
“My own garden is my own garden,” said the Giant; “anyone can
understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself.”
So he built a high wall all round it, and put up a notice-board:
TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED
He was a very selfish Giant.
The poor children had now nowhere to play. They tried to play
on the road, but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones,
and they did not like it. They used to wander round the high walls
when their lessons were over, and talk about the beautiful garden
inside. “How happy we were there!” they said to each other.
Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little
blossoms and little birds. Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant it
was still winter. The birds did not care to sing in it as there were no
trespassers: those who enter somebody’s land/property without his/her permission
prosecuted: tried in a court of law (here, punished)
Reprint 2024-25
The Selfish Giant 19 19 19 19 19
children, and the trees forgot to blossom. Once a beautiful flower
put its head out from the grass, but when it saw the notice-board it
was so sorry for the children that it slipped back into the ground
again, and went off to sleep. The only people who were pleased were
the Snow and the Frost. “Spring has forgotten this garden,” they
cried, “so we will live here all the year round.” The Snow covered up
the grass with her great white cloak, and the Frost painted all the
trees silver. Then they invited the North Wind to stay with them,
and he came. He was wrapped in furs, and he roared all day about
the garden, and blew the chimney-pots down. ‘‘This is a delightful
spot,” he said, “we must ask Hail on a visit.” So the Hail came.
Every day for three hours he rattled on the roof of the castle till he
broke most of the slates, and then he ran round and round the
garden as fast as he could go. He was dressed in grey, and his
breath was like ice.
“I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming,” said
the Selfish Giant, as he sat at the window and looked out at his
cold, white garden; “I hope there will be a change in the weather.”
But the Spring never came, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave
golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant’s garden she gave
none. “He is too selfish,” she said. So it was always Winter there,
and the North Wind and the Hail, and the Frost, and the Snow
danced about through the trees.
One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard
some lovely music. It sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought
it must be the King’s musicians passing by. It was really only a
little linnet singing outside his window, but it was so long since
he had heard a bird singing in his garden that it seemed to him to
be the most beautiful music in the world. Then the Hail stopped
dancing over his head, and the North Wind ceased roaring, and a
delicious perfume came to him through the open casement. “I
believe the Spring has come at last,” said the Giant; and he jumped
out of bed and looked out.
Snow, Frost, North Wind, Hail: All these have been presented as characters or persons.
North Wind is the chilly wind, and Hail is the hailstorm  linnet: a brownish songbird
found in Europe  casement: window that opens on hinges like a door
Reprint 2024-25
Page 4


I
• The Giant’s garden was beautiful, and children loved to play in it.
• The Giant, who was selfish, built a high wall round his lovely garden.
• Children did not enter the garden thereafter. Nor did Spring and
Summer till the Giant experienced a change of heart.
EVERY afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children
used to go and play in the Giant’s garden.
It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and
there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there
were twelve peach-trees that in the springtime broke out into delicate
blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit. The
birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to
stop their games in order to listen to them. “How happy we are
here!” they cried to each other.
One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend,
the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. When
he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden.
“What are you doing here?” he cried in a very gruff voice, and
the children ran away.
Cornish ogre: a giant of Cornwall (in the U.K.)  ogre: (in legends and fairy stories) a cruel
giant who eats people; (in common usage) a very frightening person  gruff: rough; surly
The Selfish Giant
3
Reprint 2024-25
It so happened... 18 18 18 18 18
“My own garden is my own garden,” said the Giant; “anyone can
understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself.”
So he built a high wall all round it, and put up a notice-board:
TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED
He was a very selfish Giant.
The poor children had now nowhere to play. They tried to play
on the road, but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones,
and they did not like it. They used to wander round the high walls
when their lessons were over, and talk about the beautiful garden
inside. “How happy we were there!” they said to each other.
Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little
blossoms and little birds. Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant it
was still winter. The birds did not care to sing in it as there were no
trespassers: those who enter somebody’s land/property without his/her permission
prosecuted: tried in a court of law (here, punished)
Reprint 2024-25
The Selfish Giant 19 19 19 19 19
children, and the trees forgot to blossom. Once a beautiful flower
put its head out from the grass, but when it saw the notice-board it
was so sorry for the children that it slipped back into the ground
again, and went off to sleep. The only people who were pleased were
the Snow and the Frost. “Spring has forgotten this garden,” they
cried, “so we will live here all the year round.” The Snow covered up
the grass with her great white cloak, and the Frost painted all the
trees silver. Then they invited the North Wind to stay with them,
and he came. He was wrapped in furs, and he roared all day about
the garden, and blew the chimney-pots down. ‘‘This is a delightful
spot,” he said, “we must ask Hail on a visit.” So the Hail came.
Every day for three hours he rattled on the roof of the castle till he
broke most of the slates, and then he ran round and round the
garden as fast as he could go. He was dressed in grey, and his
breath was like ice.
“I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming,” said
the Selfish Giant, as he sat at the window and looked out at his
cold, white garden; “I hope there will be a change in the weather.”
But the Spring never came, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave
golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant’s garden she gave
none. “He is too selfish,” she said. So it was always Winter there,
and the North Wind and the Hail, and the Frost, and the Snow
danced about through the trees.
One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard
some lovely music. It sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought
it must be the King’s musicians passing by. It was really only a
little linnet singing outside his window, but it was so long since
he had heard a bird singing in his garden that it seemed to him to
be the most beautiful music in the world. Then the Hail stopped
dancing over his head, and the North Wind ceased roaring, and a
delicious perfume came to him through the open casement. “I
believe the Spring has come at last,” said the Giant; and he jumped
out of bed and looked out.
Snow, Frost, North Wind, Hail: All these have been presented as characters or persons.
North Wind is the chilly wind, and Hail is the hailstorm  linnet: a brownish songbird
found in Europe  casement: window that opens on hinges like a door
Reprint 2024-25
Comprehension Check
1. Why is the Giant called selfish?
2. On one occasion the children said: “How happy we are here!”
Later they said: “How happy we were there!”
What are they referring to in both the cases?
3. (i) When spring came, it was still winter in the garden. What does
winter stand for or indicate here?
(ii) Winter has been presented like a story with its own characters and
their activities. Describe the story in your own words.
4. Was the Giant happy or sad over the state of the garden?
5. What effect did the linnet’s song have over Hail and the North Wind?
II
• To celebrate the return of the children, trees covered themselves
with birds and blossoms.
• The Giant was delighted to see his friends back, especially a little
boy whom he loved dearly.
• The little boy soon disappeared only to return much later.
He saw a most wonderful sight. Through a little hole in the wall the
children had crept in, and they were sitting in the branches of the
trees. In every tree that he could see there was a little child. And the
trees were so glad to have the children back again that they had
covered themselves with blossoms, and were waving their arms gently
It so happened... 20 20 20 20 20
Reprint 2024-25
Page 5


I
• The Giant’s garden was beautiful, and children loved to play in it.
• The Giant, who was selfish, built a high wall round his lovely garden.
• Children did not enter the garden thereafter. Nor did Spring and
Summer till the Giant experienced a change of heart.
EVERY afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children
used to go and play in the Giant’s garden.
It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and
there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there
were twelve peach-trees that in the springtime broke out into delicate
blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit. The
birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to
stop their games in order to listen to them. “How happy we are
here!” they cried to each other.
One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend,
the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. When
he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden.
“What are you doing here?” he cried in a very gruff voice, and
the children ran away.
Cornish ogre: a giant of Cornwall (in the U.K.)  ogre: (in legends and fairy stories) a cruel
giant who eats people; (in common usage) a very frightening person  gruff: rough; surly
The Selfish Giant
3
Reprint 2024-25
It so happened... 18 18 18 18 18
“My own garden is my own garden,” said the Giant; “anyone can
understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself.”
So he built a high wall all round it, and put up a notice-board:
TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED
He was a very selfish Giant.
The poor children had now nowhere to play. They tried to play
on the road, but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones,
and they did not like it. They used to wander round the high walls
when their lessons were over, and talk about the beautiful garden
inside. “How happy we were there!” they said to each other.
Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little
blossoms and little birds. Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant it
was still winter. The birds did not care to sing in it as there were no
trespassers: those who enter somebody’s land/property without his/her permission
prosecuted: tried in a court of law (here, punished)
Reprint 2024-25
The Selfish Giant 19 19 19 19 19
children, and the trees forgot to blossom. Once a beautiful flower
put its head out from the grass, but when it saw the notice-board it
was so sorry for the children that it slipped back into the ground
again, and went off to sleep. The only people who were pleased were
the Snow and the Frost. “Spring has forgotten this garden,” they
cried, “so we will live here all the year round.” The Snow covered up
the grass with her great white cloak, and the Frost painted all the
trees silver. Then they invited the North Wind to stay with them,
and he came. He was wrapped in furs, and he roared all day about
the garden, and blew the chimney-pots down. ‘‘This is a delightful
spot,” he said, “we must ask Hail on a visit.” So the Hail came.
Every day for three hours he rattled on the roof of the castle till he
broke most of the slates, and then he ran round and round the
garden as fast as he could go. He was dressed in grey, and his
breath was like ice.
“I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming,” said
the Selfish Giant, as he sat at the window and looked out at his
cold, white garden; “I hope there will be a change in the weather.”
But the Spring never came, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave
golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant’s garden she gave
none. “He is too selfish,” she said. So it was always Winter there,
and the North Wind and the Hail, and the Frost, and the Snow
danced about through the trees.
One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard
some lovely music. It sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought
it must be the King’s musicians passing by. It was really only a
little linnet singing outside his window, but it was so long since
he had heard a bird singing in his garden that it seemed to him to
be the most beautiful music in the world. Then the Hail stopped
dancing over his head, and the North Wind ceased roaring, and a
delicious perfume came to him through the open casement. “I
believe the Spring has come at last,” said the Giant; and he jumped
out of bed and looked out.
Snow, Frost, North Wind, Hail: All these have been presented as characters or persons.
North Wind is the chilly wind, and Hail is the hailstorm  linnet: a brownish songbird
found in Europe  casement: window that opens on hinges like a door
Reprint 2024-25
Comprehension Check
1. Why is the Giant called selfish?
2. On one occasion the children said: “How happy we are here!”
Later they said: “How happy we were there!”
What are they referring to in both the cases?
3. (i) When spring came, it was still winter in the garden. What does
winter stand for or indicate here?
(ii) Winter has been presented like a story with its own characters and
their activities. Describe the story in your own words.
4. Was the Giant happy or sad over the state of the garden?
5. What effect did the linnet’s song have over Hail and the North Wind?
II
• To celebrate the return of the children, trees covered themselves
with birds and blossoms.
• The Giant was delighted to see his friends back, especially a little
boy whom he loved dearly.
• The little boy soon disappeared only to return much later.
He saw a most wonderful sight. Through a little hole in the wall the
children had crept in, and they were sitting in the branches of the
trees. In every tree that he could see there was a little child. And the
trees were so glad to have the children back again that they had
covered themselves with blossoms, and were waving their arms gently
It so happened... 20 20 20 20 20
Reprint 2024-25
stole up: came quietly without being noticed
The Selfish Giant 21 21 21 21 21
above the children’s heads. The birds were flying about and
twittering with delight, and the flowers were looking up through
the green grass and laughing. It was a lovely scene. Only in one
corner it was still winter. It was the farthest corner of the garden,
and in it was standing a little boy. He was so small that he could
not reach up to the branches of the tree, and he was wandering all
round it, crying bitterly. The poor tree was still covered with frost
and snow, and the North Wind was blowing and roaring above it.
“Climb up, little boy!” said the Tree, and it bent its branches down
as low as it could; but the boy was too tiny.
And the Giant’s heart melted as he looked out. “How selfish I
have been!” he said; “now I know why the Spring would not come
here. I will put that poor little boy on the top of the tree, and then I
will knock down the wall, and my garden shall be the children’s
playground for ever and ever.” He was really very sorry for what
he had done.
So he crept downstairs and opened the front door quite softly,
and went out into the garden. But when the children saw him they
were so frightened that they all ran away, and the garden became
winter again. Only the little boy did not run, for his eyes were so
full of tears that he did not see the Giant coming. And the Giant
stole up behind him and took him gently in his hands, and put
him up into the tree. And
the tree broke at once into
blossom, and the birds
came and sang on it, and
the little boy stretched out
his two arms and flung
them round the Giant’s
neck, and kissed him.
And the other children,
when they saw that the
Giant was not wicked any
longer, came running
Reprint 2024-25